Rollins joins municipal leaders’ call on parties to back green projects

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 11/04/2025 (193 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Winnipeg city councillor is one of 120 elected officials from cities across the country who are calling on the main federal parties to commit to five national green projects they say can tariff-proof the economy and create jobs.

“This election has to be about some policy issues,” Coun. Sherri Rollins said Friday. “We need the response and recovery strategies so we’re preparing for climate change and climate mitigation.”

Representatives from municipalities that have a combined population of more than 10 million Canadians, signed an open letter that was published Friday, which proposes climate change commitments they want parties to make ahead of the April 28 election.

The movement, which calls itself “Elbows Up for Climate,” says it represents citizens of all political stripes and hopes to work with the federal parties and the next government to “build the society we deserve.”

“We believe this is the moment for Canada to fight back, by investing in national projects that will connect and protect our country from the dual threats of tariffs and climate change,” the letter reads.

The coast-to-coast projects include a clean electricity grid; a high-speed rail network; two million new affordable, energy-efficient homes; and retrofits to existing homes to make them more environmentally friendly.

The fifth project involves creating a fund for a national “resilience, response and recovery strategy” for communities to prepare for future climate disasters.

The mayors and councillors note that wildfires have ripped through every part of the country, wiping neighbourhoods and entire towns off the map, and they say it’s clear the status quo isn’t working.

Rollins (Fort-Rouge, East Fort Garry) said she signed the letter as part of the daily work she does as a councillor.

“It is the job of every political actor to lean into the climate justice, climate adaptation, climate resiliency file. My ward certainly expects it, and I expect that of myself,” she said.

Officials suggest the ambitious projects should be funded with money redirected from fossil fuel subsidies, and from fees collected from polluting companies.

“These projects would create hundreds of thousands of good local jobs in cities, rural and Indigenous communities, using Canadian steel, aluminum and lumber,” the letter says.

Rollins suggests Winnipeg work with companies such as NFI Group, which makes electric buses in the city, to build relationships with provincial and federal governments for future projects.

The signatories say they were disappointed “to hear some voices following Donald Trump’s lead and attempting to resurrect outdated and unpopular pipeline projects.”

Pipelines “require enormous public subsidies, trample on Indigenous sovereignty, and condemn us to even more climate disasters in the years to come,” they wrote.

The Insurance Bureau of Canada has said severe weather was responsible for at least $8.5 billion in insurable losses in 2024 alone.

“From Jasper to Yellowknife, from Princeton to Montreal, we have all felt the effects of climate change,” Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante said in a statement. “What we need are programs that not only significantly reduce pollution but also help rebuild our communities, as climate disasters continue to intensify.”

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

Jen Zoratti | Next

Wednesdays

What's next in arts, life and pop culture.

Sign up for Jen Zoratti | Next

Sign Up

I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

In an interview with The Canadian Press, Gatineau Mayor Maude Marquis-Bissonnette explained that she joined the other elected officials without hesitation.

“In Gatineau we are familiar with climate change,” Marquis-Bissonnette said. “We’ve experienced flooding, we’ve experienced a derecho, we’ve experienced tornadoes, and obviously, like all cities, we’re experiencing the consequences of climate change, such as freeze-thaw episodes and torrential rains that have impacts on our municipal infrastructure, but especially on our citizens.”

Yellowknife deputy mayor Ben Hendriksen, who led the evacuation of the Northwest Territories capital during the 2023 wildfires, is also among the signatories.

“This moment requires our leaders to be honest with Canadians,” said Hendriksen. “We can’t keep only expanding fossil fuels for energy and avert disaster. Let’s use this elbows up moment to invest in nation-building solutions that connect the North to a clean, reliable, and affordable pan-Canadian electricity grid that ends the overreliance on diesel backups and safeguards our future.”

— The Canadian Press, with files from Nicole Buffie